It's been almost a year since Pokémon Go took the world by storm, and Niantic is looking to recapture some of that magic again this summer. Tickets just recently went on sale for the first real-world Pokémon Go event to be held in Chicago on July 22, and now Niantic is rolling out a major new update that will unveil new Gym battling mechanics as well as new cooperative gameplay via Raid Battles.

Pokémon GO is in the process of being updated to version 0.67.1 for Android and 1.37.1 for iOS devices. Below are some release notes and comments from our development team.

Gym features significantly updated to add the all-new motivation system.

Added new Gym Badge feature.

Added in-app and push notification system for Gyms.

Added Raid Battles, a new cooperative gameplay experience.

Added four new items available only by completing Raid Battles.

Added Raids tab to Nearby screen.

Added search functionality to Pokémon collection screen.

Added visual indicator to unvisited PokéStops.

We'll have to wait and see what effect these new updates have on the game, but it's encouraging to see the developers are refocusing on going out and playing with friends. Maybe it'll draw those of us who "retired" from Pokémon Go months ago.